Here Are More Reasons Why The Golden State Warriors Are A Model Franchise

Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates with the MVP trophy as Stephen Curry #30 celebrates with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game Four of the 2018 NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 8, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 108-85 to win the 2018 NBA Finals. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Can we use the D-word now? (D as in "dynasty" not "dub" or "dentiologist," which is someone who speaks with closed teeth.) The Golden State Warriors just won their third title in four years by sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in the NBA Championships with a 108-85 win. After capturing more NBA championships in a four-year period than nearly every other franchise (with the exception of the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls), there is talk of the Warriors being a "model franchise" not just for professional basketball but for every sport.

Indeed, there's a lot to like about the Warriors franchise on the court. They certainly have talent like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green and have managed to keep them around all four years. They even added someone named Kevin Durant over the last 2 seasons. Their coach, Steve Kerr, has installed an offense that employs a lot of ball movement and seems to make a number of timely in-game adjustments. Plus he's shown the gumption to persist despite struggling with back problems. But as legendary UCLA coach John Wooden once said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” This applies to everyone and everything. As they say in sleeping, entertainment, and sports, what happens when the spotlight is off is what matters. (By the way, don't use a spotlight if you are trying to sleep).

For example, what did the Warriors do the day after they barely escaped Game 1 with an overtime victory over LeBron James and the Cavaliers? Just sleep, rest, and go golfing? Yell at people on Twitter? No, they joined the Boys & Girls Club to open a new NBA Cares Learn and Play Zone at San Leandro as described here:

This included renovating spaces, donating computers, building gardens, and doing lots of activities with kids. For example, Curry helped kids make Gack, which is not the sound a cat makes coughing up a hairball but a cross between putty and Jell-o. Forward David West held discussions about racial and economic divides. Durant packed snacks for local kids in need with help from No Kid Hungry. Again, this was between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Championships.

This wasn't a one time, "oh-we-almost-lost-the-first-game-when-we-should-have-won-it-more-handedly-let's-try-to-get-some-good-karma-and-pretend-to-be-good-human-beings-for-a-day" event. Rather this was business as usual, completely in line with what the Warriors have been doing throughout the year. As I mentioned previously for Forbes, Durant is a finalist for the NBA Cares Season-long Community Assist Award, after winning the January 2018 monthly award. And Kerr has literally put his money where his mouth is by donating all of his speaking engagement fees to support 20 students and counting.

Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors participate with Baby2Baby during NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service as a part of 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 16, 2018 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Jill Weisleder/NBAE via Getty Images)Photo by Jill Weisleder/NBAE via Getty Images

Throughout the course of the year, the Warriors have hosted and participated in over 320 community events throughout the Bay Area. The Warriors have continued to contribute to local communities by donating money (e.g., the Warriors Community Foundation donated over $1.6 million to 43 organizations working to improve education equity) and time (e.g., over 3,800 hours of community service from front office employees via the Warriors Helping Hands volunteer program).

And the Warriors have been trying to help reverse the physical inactivity epidemic that has been growing. In fact, the Warriors health and fitness initiatives have led to kids having 14,240,940 (approximately) minutes of physical activity.

President Barack Obama wears protective glasses during a science experiment for a My Brother's Keeper taping with NBA player Stephen "Steph" Curry in the Map Room of the White House, Feb. 4, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

This is all evidence that the Warriors have created a healthy culture of cooperation and values that in turn is quite conducive to winning. The best way to tell if people are happy is watching how they treat people that they don't have to treat well. Losing organizations focus on whom they think they need to treat well and ignore those they don't. Losing organizations don't really care about people, inside and outside the organization. Losing organizations don't try to make the world a better place and instead seek to only enrich themselves. Losing organizations don't exhibit and live by a core set of values. Losing organizations are immersed in a Gack of politics and can't seem to cooperate and coordinate with each other. People in losing organizations scatter when the spotlight is off or work hours are over.

All of this applies beyond basketball and beyond sports. The truly strong and healthy organizations and companies do a lot of community work. They see how it helps employees and the surrounding community feel better about the organization and really gives everyone more purpose. When you are feeling unhappy, upset, and stressed, try going out and helping someone. Scientific studies have shown that doing so can really make you feel better about yourself. These days when you hear ridiculous slogans like "winning is the only thing," and "win at all costs," witness people saying and doing anything just to get ahead, and watch bile being thrown back and forth, it is refreshing and educating to see a team that's become a D as in dynasty when doing things right.

I’ve been in the worlds of business, medicine, and global and public health. And these worlds are a lot more similar and different than you think. Currently, I am an Associate Professor of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Executive...